Dealerships and Car Warranties

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A warranty is an agreement signed by the vehicle manufacturer to have its authorized dealerships offer to repair or replace specific components if they are malfunctioning. The warranty typically lasts for a specific number of miles or a specific length of time, whichever is exhausted first.

Until a few years ago, the base warranty for most automobiles used to be three years and 36,000 miles. However, with the increasing market competition, many auto manufacturers have increased the base warranty on several models to five years and 50,000 miles, and in some cases, even 10 years and 100,000 miles.

Types of Warranty

The warranty must be honored by the manufacturer’s authorized dealerships for the costs of components and labor if the component failure occurs within the stipulated range of the warranty. However, in many cases, this is not exactly a cut and dry stipulation. The auto manufacturers offer multiple layers of warranty coverage. Two of the most commonly available warranties are power train warranty and bumper to bumper warranty.

Power Train vs Bumper to Bumper

The power train warranty generally lasts for a longer period compared to bumper to bumper coverage, but offers coverage for only a limited number of components. A bumper to bumper warranty, on the other hand, will cover many more parts which is why it's significantly shorter. In some warranties, the vehicle owner may have to bear a partial payment, which is known as a deductible.

Items Covered

A standard warranty provided by the auto manufacturer does not cover many malfunctions. Items that are included and excluded from the warranty coverage are usually listed in the vehicle owner's manual. It is a good idea to check out the manual to be sure what coverage is included before you take your vehicle to a car dealership for covered warranty service.

Whether a particular malfunction is covered under the warranty or not will eventually be decided by the authorized dealer. The dealer’s technicians will perform a detailed diagnosis to identify the failure and determine the cause of that failure. Whether the component failed on its own, or due to the fault of the vehicle’s driver will be determined by the dealer. This can be a very stressful and unnerving situations for car owners but is part of the responsibility of owning and buying a car.  

Availing the Warranty Advantage

In case your vehicle has a developed a problem that is not covered by your regular warranty, you should try to check whether it may be also covered by a warranty mandated under federal law. If you are unaware of this warranty, and the dealer fails to mention it, you might lose a fair opportunity to have your automobile repaired or serviced under the warranty.

In some cases, the dealer may believe a particular repair is not covered by the warranty, when it actually is. Such misunderstandings can be to your disadvantage if you're not well-versed with the terms of your warranty. Wherever such confusion exists, or the service technician is unsure about a particular coverage, you can call up the auto manufacturer for clarification. Much can also depend on the customer service attitude of a particular dealership regarding interpreting the terms of a warranty. It also helps for you to behave calmly and professionally rather than displaying an accusatory tone. That is not an ice breaker.